Spring cleaning is a real thing!
For some, spring cleaning is a drastic event, where people pull everything out of the closet and ruthlessly go through, item by item.
Perhaps it’s because I live in the north, but swapping winter clothes for lighter, brighter fabrics is a process that happens gradually over the spring months.
At the same time as I am phasing in spring and summer clothes, I am sorting and evaluating recently-worn winter clothes before I clean and store them for for next year.
Did this item earn its keep? Does it deserve to take up space until next year?
Whether all at once or throughout the spring season, I suggest you do the same thing in your sales world. Go through your account base, and ask four questions:
1. Does it still fit?
For all of your accounts – yes, even buying accounts! – does it still fit into your ideal customer profile?
Keep in mind that our ideal customer profile changes over the seasons of our careers. For example, product sets you’re able to sell might have expanded (or contracted). Perhaps target markets, geography…and even dollars an account needs to produce to be worth your time…have evolved.
2. Do I even make money?
This might seem like a silly measure, yet every year I look at accounts and check the balance between what I ACTUALLY made working with them versus the TIME / ENERGY / EFFORT to earn their business.
Every single year since I’ve been doing this exercise, someone doesn’t make the cut… and gets culled from my account list.
NOTE: Brand new customers who have potential to improve don’t get cut. They are like that new dressy outfit you just bought but haven’t worn more than once – it still fits and you’re looking for (or creating) the next opportunity to wear it.
3. How often do we do business?
This question doesn’t have a right answer, per se. Rather, we need to understand the answer when we are looking at accounts overall.
It is one of the ways to decide if a customer values you. What are their purchasing patterns, and do they choose you when they do buy something?
4. Why is it even in here?
Is there an account on your list that’s like that item of clothing that you keep trying to get rid of… but keep hanging it back up again? You know in your heart it’s not a good fit, yet you just can’t let go?
Maybe it’s a customer who took a leap of faith with you back in the day, when your job role was different. Maybe it’s someone whose needs have changed drastically but they keep working with you out of loyalty, longevity or comfort. Maybe it’s a really nice person who is a zero-sum customer when it comes to, say, a propensity to cause errors on their end that sap your time and erode your company’s profit.
If we have a sentimental attachment but it’s time to make a decision, make it.
Obstacles to Spring cleaning
The number one fear I hear when talking about doing spring cleaning and getting rid of accounts is:
WHAT IF THEY CALL TOMORROW AND DO A HUGE DEAL WITH SOMEONE ELSE?
Let’s go back to my closet, and talk about a cute suede skirt my husband gave me back in the 90s:
- Does it still fit? (Nope.)
- Do I even like it? (It has great memories, but I would probably never wear it even if it did fit – it’s a bit short for my taste.)
- How often do I wear it? (I actually can’t remember the last time I wore it.)
- Why is it even in here? (I haven’t had the heart to get rid of it and keep telling myself it doesn’t take up much space.)
Okay, let’s say you’ve answered the four questions for every account, and you’ve found one that just isn’t worth keeping…
STOP HESITATING and get rid of it!
The best thing about sales spring cleaning is you have made room for a shiny, new prospect… which may even become your next favorite account.
Spring cleaning – in your closet and in sales – rejuvenates your mind and spirit. Try it!
Happy Spring!
Lynn
P.S. When it comes to spring cleaning, sales managers often allow veteran salespeople to toss their time-wasting prospects and ill-fitting accounts back into the pot, to be doled out to the next new hire. Maybe we think a new voice or fresh energy will magically do the trick. Or maybe we think a new person will appreciate a warm list with so much “potential.” The reality is that all team members – veterans and novices alike – should be empowered to remove the clinkers and focus on prospects and accounts that inspire and excite them. Sound unrealistic? Even scary? Click reply and tell me why.
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